Its a bummer, but at least the next imperfection will be less heart breaking. That's one nice axe! It would have been worse if you dropped it! Self inflicted wounds are the worst kind. I've had plenty myself. Be thankful its not your fault. Perhaps its your guitar's way of saying "hey Jack Straw play me more"

mgbills wrote:I guess what I'm saying is...you may have stored this perfectly every day...and this still could happen. I think Matt Moriarity builds custom humidy controlled cases. But that is only a preventative measure, and no guarantee.

Thanks man - I am think the same way as you - and actively work to protect all my equipment from the effects of the spring and fall humidity swings. No woodstove - and I do monitor the humidity on a daily basis (it sits beside my tuner) - I just got a little sloppy because I have been playing daily so I left it on the hanger instead of putting it back in the case. I also neglected to fire up the ultrasonic humidifier for my jam space (I usually wait for snowfall).

My best guess is the combination of humidity change and age has led to the "depression" I am seeing (I am having a hard time calling it a crack...it is so smooth).

Its a bummer, but at least the next imperfection will be less heart breaking. That's one nice axe! It would have been worse if you dropped it! Self inflicted wounds are the worst kind. I've had plenty myself. Be thankful its not your fault. Perhaps its your guitar's way of saying "hey Jack Straw play me more"

So how's the new Mutron???

Right on bro! You're absolutely right! I have a lot of fun playing with the new envelope filter - really handy being able to dial in the level separately without affecting the behaviour of the envelope response (makes you think that whole effects bypass in jerry's guitars was on to something! )

Let me tell you something…I've always been the most anal fuck on the planet when it comes to my things - especially my guitars. I'm trying to get better, though, seeing as how it's ridiculous that an inanimate object should be responsible for causing me grief. I own them. They don't own me. One thing I've learned from my custom builds is that they are crafted by wonderful artisans who are, by nature, imperfect from materials that while beautiful are also imperfect. It's what makes them unique, genuine and only adds to their character. As long as this isn't structural (which seems highly unlikely) just enjoy it for the wonderful, imperfect instrument that it is.

Very long time lurker but just not a poster. My $.02... Because of the size on the inlay on the headstock, the veneer was in the process of "contracting" and squeezed against the dissimiliar material (inlay) and the stress on the veneer just causes it to split. This is contrary to common thought that it would be from expansion that would cause the wood to split. If you have a decal as the inlay, well there goes my ideas.The only reason I say this is the earliest Travis Bean guitars that had super tight fitting bodies split alot from along the side of the end of the neck route to the end of the body (back where the strap button is). This came from the the wood contracting & squeezing against the aluminum neck, where it could then move no more & gets itself under stress & just breaks itsself. I had one raise me from a sound sleep, it wasnt a slow process, just gave way all the sudden one night & sounded like a gun shot. Ive had a couple other Beans pass through my hands that were like that & have a repaired a few more, all broken in exactly the same place (well either above the neck or below, so it out of 6, they were all in one of two places. Sometimes it cracks the piece of wood between the pickups on top of the body. I guess it just depends on the grain of the wood. A little later Beans had a slightly wider neck route based on what Ive measured. The thinner body Beans (black necks) also split, but they werent always made from koa. Depending on the finish it can be repaired without a trace... If its nitro lacquer you can "drop fill" it, just tiny dots of lacquer built up over the crack. After it dries good take a razor blade and put a little strip (or 2 or 3)of masking tape on each end to cover the corners & this also acts as your "depth guage" holding the black perpendicular to the domed tops of the lacq drops scrape the tops of the domes off, making them flat, as you work down, remove a piece of tape from each end so that the blade will shave off more material. Eventually you can run the flat blade over, or if you arent comfortable, stop with one thickness of masking tape left. Then for a little repair like that, Id just use the MicroMesh sanding pads & as you progress through their grits you will build up the shine again. Polishing compound may not even be necessary. Its something you could fix yourself in a short time, minus the lacquer hardening.I hope this helps,Brian CHagerstown Md

CapitalBC wrote:Very long time lurker but just not a poster. My $.02... Because of the size on the inlay on the headstock, the veneer was in the process of "contracting" and squeezed against the dissimiliar material (inlay) and the stress on the veneer just causes it to split. This is contrary to common thought that it would be from expansion that would cause the wood to split. If you have a decal as the inlay, well there goes my ideas.

[...]

Depending on the finish it can be repaired without a trace... If its nitro lacquer you can "drop fill" it, just tiny dots of lacquer built up over the crack. After it dries good take a razor blade and put a little strip (or 2 or 3)of masking tape on each end to cover the corners & this also acts as your "depth guage" holding the black perpendicular to the domed tops of the lacq drops scrape the tops of the domes off, making them flat, as you work down, remove a piece of tape from each end so that the blade will shave off more material. Eventually you can run the flat blade over, or if you arent comfortable, stop with one thickness of masking tape left. Then for a little repair like that, Id just use the MicroMesh sanding pads & as you progress through their grits you will build up the shine again. Polishing compound may not even be necessary. Its something you could fix yourself in a short time, minus the lacquer hardening.

Brian - thank you so much for taking the time to weigh in and provide some thoughtful advice and understanding! Welcome aboard and a sincere thank you! I am too chicken to attempt this on my own at the moment - but may take the advice and practice the technique to gain the confidence. Thanks again and welcome aboard!!

Looks to me that the crack is in the wood. Ebony is famous for splitting an checking. If you want it fixed right you will have to scrape all the finish off the headstock. repair the crack W/ epoxy and ebony dust then respray. That is if you want it fixed it probably will not effect the guitars playability. Also one reason I do not put truss rod adj at the head stock end. How tight is the truss rod and in what direction? could it have caused an upward concentrated force on the headstock plate .

Thanks for asking - I thought I would close out this thread with a response I received from the luthier.

That isn't a crack. It is a finish sink in a lamination line. The ebony on the headstock is two pieces. It can probably be flat sanded and buffed out. Sink in finishes is, for better or worse, part of instrument building.

So really he has confirmed what many previous people have suspected and commented. I am leaving it as is for the time being as I agree with most posts that it is no big deal.